Sucker-rod twister



April 5. 1927. 1,623,696

B. c. NUGENT 'SUCKER ROD YTWISTER Filed. May 22, 1924 Ind M7018.

Jaw/62,400 Mam Patented Apr. 5, 192 7. A j-UNITED stares Parana" OFFICE.

34m CLAUD NUGE-N'I, or TAET, CALIFORNIA.

' sUoKiia-non rwrs'rnn.

Application filed. May 22,

My invention rel'atesto the art of pumpingoil wells, and an object of the invention is to provide means bywhich the sucker rods of an oilwell may be rotated during pumping for the purpose of evenly distributing the wear on the rods, tubing 'and the pump barrel and plunger. V

In the pumping of oilwells, it is common practice to suspend a string of sucker rods inside the tubing of the well, these sucker rods being attached through a polish rod and suitable suspension means to the walk ng beam of the'fiwell, the pump rod passing downwardly through a suitable stufiing box at the upper end of the tubing. The well is generally not perfectly vertical and insome caseshas more or less well defined bends or kinks therein. 'As a result, the sucker rods are very likely to rub at certain points on the tubing, andwhere the rods are suspended without rotation, the sucker. rods tend to wear on one side. By slowly rotating the sucker rods duringpumping, I am able to distribute this wear evenly around the rod.

Substantially every oil well produces'some silt or-sand and it often happens that a grain of sand works in between the plunger and the inner wallof the pump barrel. Where the rods are suspended without rotation, this grain of sand tends to move up and down in substantially the same path, soon cuttmg a groove in the wall of'the barrel or in the outer surface of the plunger. These grooves, if sufficiently deep, are likely to cause leakage of the pump, and it is an ob ect of my invention to avoid them. This I accomplish by a slow rotation of the rods.

. Further objects and advantages will be made evident hereinafter.

Referring to the drawing which is for illustrative purposes only, Fig. 1 is a view of my invention installed in an'oil well.

Fig. 2 is a section'on an enlarged scale through a portion of the device used in practicing my invention.

Fig. 3 isa side view of the same. In the pumping of oil-wells, a walking beam '11 is provided, the end 12 of this beam moving up or down for the purpose of reciprocating, through suitable mechanism, a polish rod 13, which passes through a stuffing bOX'14l and down into tubing 15 of the well. In the practice of my invention, I secure on the upper end of the polish rod 13 a split nut 14', which rests upon a ball bear- 1924. 'Serial No. 715,243.

ing 15. V The ball bearing 15 is supported upon a bearing l6 consisting of a casting having arms 17 and a downwardly project ing body 18. Reins 19 which may be formed of wire rope extend upwardly from the arms 17 and are suitably secured to the end 12 of the walking beam' 11. 20 issecured by any suitable means, such as a setscrew 21, to the polish-rod 13below the end of the body 18. A bevel pinion 22 is mounted to mesh with the gear 20 and to turn freely on a stud 23, secured in the body 18. Also turning freely about the center of the pinion 22 is a lever 31. Mounted to turn on a pin 32 in the lever 31 is a pawl 33. This pawl is so formed that it actuates the bevel pinion 22 when turned in a counter clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 3, slipping over the teeth of the A. beveled gear pinion 22 when actuated in a clockwise direction. To prevent the lever 31 from swinging lower than a substantially horizontal position, I provide a stop 38 which may, as shown, be in the form of an arm extending from the bearing 16. The handle 35 of the lever 31 is of sufiicient length to strike against a stop 36. This stop may be a part of the derrick structure, or it may be especially erected for the purpose of actuating the lever 35.

The method of operation is as follows.

The parts being assembled as shown, the

walking beam 11 being actuated by any suitable means, not shown, the bearing 16 is moved up and down, raising and lowering the polish rod 13, and the pump rods and plunger secured thereto, but not shown. As the polish rod 13 and its associated parts move downwardly, the end of the lever 35 strikes upon the stop 36 and the lever 35 is rotated in a counter clockwise direction,

thus rotating the polish rod 13 through the beam of a derrick; a bevel gear fixed to said polish rod; a bevel pinion supported on said bearing and meshing with said bevel gear; a lever turning about the same axis as said pinion; a pawl carried by said lever engaging said pinion; and a post so fixed as to be struck by said lever as said bearing is reciprocated and thus actuate said lever, said post being adapted to engage and swing said lever at the lower end of reciprocation of said bearing.

2. A sucker rod rotor comprising: a polish rod; a bearing through which said polish rod passes and in which said polish rod is free to turn, the bearing and polish rod being secured against relatively longitudinal movement; means secured on said polish rod and resting upon said bearing for suspending the weight of said polish rod on said bearing; means for suspending said bearing from the walking beam of a derrick; a l rel gear lixed to said polish rod; a bevel pinion supported on said bearing and meshing with said bevel gear; a lever turning about the same axis as said pinion; a pawl :arried by said lever engaging said pinion; and a post so fixed as to be struck by said lever, as said bearing is reeiprocal'ed, and thus actuate said lever, said post being adapted to engage and swing said lever at the lower end of reciprocation of said hearing.

In tebit'llllol'ly whereof, I have hereunto set 11!) hand at Fellows, California, this 25 day of April, 192%.

BENNIE GLAUD NUGENT. 

